Renewed protests were expected at the latest stage of the Olympic torch relay today after the flame arrived in India, home to the world's largest Tibetan exile community.

Activists disrupted torch relays in Paris, London and San Francisco, but subsequent stops in Kazakhstan, Russia, Argentina, Tanzania, Oman and Pakistan passed off without trouble.

Much of central New Delhi, which is the administrative heart of India and home to the presidential palace, parliament and government ministries, was being sealed off to traffic and pedestrians ahead of the run, which was due to start at 4pm (11.30am BST).

About 15,000 police were on duty and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in the area were advised to keep a low profile and to stay away from the roofs and windows of their office buildings.

Last night, small protests marred the flame's arrival in New Delhi. About two dozen Tibetan exiles chanted anti-China slogans and protested along a busy road as the flame made its way into the city. Police detained several of the demonstrators.

In Mumbai, India's financial capital, police held about 25 Tibetans who attempted to breach the barricades around the Chinese consulate. The protesters shouted "Free Tibet" as they were dragged into police vehicles.

Tibetan exiles, who number more than 100,000 in India, have staged near-daily protests in New Delhi since demonstrations broke out in Tibet in March and were put down by Chinese authorities.

In recent weeks, activists have stormed the Chinese embassy, which is now surrounded by barricades and barbed wire, gone on hunger strikes and shaved their heads to protest against China's crackdown in Tibet.

The exiles say the torch run through New Delhi is a perfect opportunity to make their point, despite the fact the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, has said he supports China's hosting of the Olympics.

"By speaking out when the Chinese government brings the Olympic torch to India, you will send a strong message to Tibetans, to the Chinese government, and to the world, that Indians support the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people's non-violent struggle for freedom and justice," said the Students for a Free Tibet, a strident exile group.

Protests were expected to continue all day before the start of the relay. Thousands of Tibetans were also taking part in their own torch run to highlight their struggle.

The alternate run began this morning with a Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh prayer session at the site in New Delhi where the Indian pacifist Mohandas Gandhi was cremated. Several dozen prominent Indians, including a former defence minister, George Fernandez, joined the event.

Some exiles said they planned to make a more dramatic statement later in the day, possibly trying to douse or steal the Olympic flame.

Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan activist with a reputation for publicity stunts, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press yesterday that he did not want to talk about specific plans because he feared his phone was tapped. "But be at India Gate," he said, referring to a monument in New Delhi that the torch is to pass.

Public sympathy in India lies with the Tibetans, who have sought refuge in the country since the Dalai Lama fled his homeland after a failed uprising against Beijing in 1959 and set up his government-in-exile in the northern town of Dharamsala.